Town of Camp Hill Starting Neighborhood Watch Program

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By
Brittany Bivins

Many large towns and cities use neighborhood watch programs to cut down on crime--asking community members to lend their eyes and ears and report anything suspicious.

Now one small town in Tallapoosa County is starting its own program, and police say it could have an even bigger impact there.

Camp Hill Police Chief Roosevelt Finley is patrolling this town of about 1,200 people.

"You have just as many crimes, just as much pattern of violence or whatever you may want to call it, everything that exists in a large town exists here."

Except the larger resources to fight crime. Police say there are about 50 burglaries in Camp Hill in an average year, but Finley says, "we're seeing a bit of an increase, but the problem is-we know it will increase twice over during the summer months."

He says that's because that's when many teenagers are out of school.

"When they are out during the summer months, sometimes they have a tendency to get into things that are not very favorable, very criminal-like," Finley said.

That's why police want to start the program now. They say they're looking for volunteers to commit to calling them and reporting suspicious behavior, and because it's a small town, police say getting just a few criminals off the streets will have a major impact.